Hello! Nostalgia here. I took music all through public school but I didn’t feel prepared or confident in anything after graduating. Yet, when I decided to pick up an instrument again, I realized that it wasn’t all for waste, so here is the pros and cons of taking music in school. I’m talking specifically about public school as there’s no doubt private schools have a better music program, but I still think public school can create a great foundation.
My Childhood
I grew up in a household where my parents had an interest in playing instruments, but they were casual players who only know the basics. There was a keyboard, guitar, and harmonica inside our home, but they didn’t really play anything. I recall them both playing a couple basic things on the keyboard, while the guitar always had a broken string, and the harmonica collected dust on a shelf.
After my parents seperated, my mom put me and my older brother in a short beginner keyboard class (like a 3 or 4 month community program or something hosted by the government). She bought me/us our own keyboard as my father took the old one, and I continued to play. The keyboard had a screen that would tell you what buttons to press, so I learned by practice and memorization, but was never good or fluent at reading music.
What I Learned Each Year At School
As for school, Music was always my favourite subject in school. I grew up in Toronto, Canada, and took music all through school. In kindergarten, they had us sing, and during the rest of elementary school, they thought us the names of instruments, how read and write notes on a music staff, and how to play the recorder.
In middle school, we had band class and I took clarinet. If I recall properly, they didn’t have music classes in Grade 8 due to gun crime in the area (Jane & Finch) so we stayed in our homerooms more, and did dance or drama instead. But thanks to a friend, I also joined choir that year, my first school club ever! We got to sing and dance to High School Musical songs, and later, we joined other schools to put on a big production with a famous jazz singer at Roy Thompson Hall.
In Grade 9, each student got to choose their art course, and I chose music and played the clarinet again. My school had other programs as well, so I was in choir and drumline as well. One music teacher also offered violin/viola classes after school. While I did the announcements, I either forgot or wasn’t too interested, but the friends I’d usually see or walk home with after school was in it so I ended up joining. Viola was the only instrument left so I played that.
In Grade 10, interest for music class was pretty much dead. I was the only student in my grade that signed up, so I got placed in a mixed Grade 11/12 band class. There were only 3 students to start, so we were allowed to pick other instruments. One girl picked violin, one guy picked keyboard, and I picked guitar. You can say this was my start, but we played classical music, and I only played simple melodies. Usually in music class, there are some who really aren’t that good or who take forever to learn, so you barely get to go beyond the basics. A few students joined during the semester, but only 8 signed up in total. I was in drumline again as well.
In Grade 11, you could say the music program really took a hit. Many older students who were passionate about it graduated, and the two music teachers who gave it their all also switched to other schools. The drum teacher who’d come just for drumline was connected to one of them, so they also left. The new music teacher was nice, but she was a little too nice, so drumline didn’t have the same discipline to really go anywhere and I dropped out. They cancelled band classes as well, so I took a music/computers class, where I learned the basics of DAW, and even got to sing on a track produced in a studio during a field trip.
Then finally, Grade 12. I was actually at university for the first semester doing a scholarship program. In the second half, since band still wasn’t available, I chose to take keyboard. The class was pretty much self study 90% of the time, and then we’d be tested now and then on a song we learned. I played the keyboard at home, so I’ll admit to slacking off and talking with other students during this year.
Me Coming Back To Music As An Adult
After graduation, I came to realize I wasn’t really good at anything. I never got to play an instrument consistently enough to advance at them, my reading skills were basic since we only did easy songs in my classes and I would just memorize other things I planned to perform, and I never had a reason to be creative or improvise. I actually thought those who could improvise just had some natural talent I didn’t.
As I picked up guitar as an adult, I already had a head start because I learned the names of the strings and how to tune my guitar in school. I only got to play single notes then, and it’s been over a decade , but at least I knew how to read basic tabs and chord charts already. I realized my school only taught me how to read music, and not really theory at all, but once things started to click, I was able to connect things to what I learned back then, like why does C have no sharps/flats and what the circle of fifths was really about.
When I started to put a band together, having played various instruments and knowing how a band should work and sound together allowed me to create expectations for the group. I have seen some very horrible bands online, and the worst part is, they seem confident in what they’re doing even though everyone is playing in a different key, in a different timing, and sometimes, you wonder if they’re even playing the right song. While we were beginners (and while they generally ignored my advice on how the improve, I even had to kick out the stubborn drummer who was throwing everyone off every single time), we sounded pretty decent at our first real gig.
While I was still nervous to get on stage, there are certainly things I rermembered my teachers always talking about back then, like looking at the crowd, smiling, and practicing well enough that you won’t or will rarely make mistakes live. The last point is something I really tried to push my bandmates to do, but they continued to be slack during rehearsals and ended up making more mistakes when the time counted.
Recently, I picked up the ocarina, a small woodwind intrument, to play hymns at my church. Although the instrument itself was new to me, the concept of fingering holes was natural since I played record and clarinet before. Breath control and phrasing was also something that I didn’t have to think about as I worked a lot on them back then.
The clips below are from the first few time I played for my church, which was only a couple months after I picked up the instrument (and mind you, these songs were new to me and I never got to play with the backing tracks til this moment. After hearing myself, I’ve made adjustments and have improved a lot as I got more comfortable with the crowd).
And while my reading skills were at a beginner level and I don’t think I ever played beyond the key of C and G back then, I was amazed at how quickly I was able to read more complex songs when I really worked at it. Reading the notes is one thing, but knowing time signatures, note values and bars, various symbols (staccato, crescendo, fermata, etc), how accidentals work, and other aspects of sheet music is something I owe my schools greatly for.
So while I graduated school thinking I probably wasted 14 years of music classes since I left not feeling confident playing a single instrument, turns out it gave me a solid foundation once I was ready and willing to stick to an instrument and progress at it. So below, I’ve listed various categories, and I’ve shared where I think public school did an amazing job at teaching me and other students in this subject, and parts where I felt they lacked greatly.
Pros and Cons of Music Class
A. Choice of Instruments
PROS: A student will get the opportunity to play instruments that their parents may not be able to afford at home. A starter saxophone or clarinet costs between $400-$700. Cellos, Bassoons, and Tubas start in the thousands! So on top of having the opportunity to pick up these instruments, they also have the opportunity to switch and explore to see which fits them best should they ever decide to commit and buy one in the future. If not for music class, I may have never had the opportunity to play clarinet, viola, or bass drum.
CONS: In many schools, the options for instruments or availability of instruments can be slim. Woodwinds (flute, clarinet) and brass instruments (tuba, trumpet) are a given, but strings (violin, harp) and percussion (drums, xylophone) may not be available or are off limits. Sometimes, it is first come, first served, so some students may not get to play the instruments they wanted to learn. I joined my school’s violin/viola lessons after most students (I only joined cause my friend who I went home with was there). There were probably 7-8 violins, but they were all taken, so I ended up with 1 of the 2 violas.
B. Direct Assistance and Support (For Free!)
PROS: For a child that has never played an instrument before, playing by themselves can be a struggle. Usually, the parents of the child don’t play either, and back then, Youtube videos weren’t available. But even so, troubleshooting can be difficult when someone is just learning to navigate their instrument. Having a teacher by your side who can point out things you don’t notice, who can answer your questions, and who will recognize your growing talent can help tremendously when one may otherwise feel discouraged.
CONS: Some teachers really don’t know anything, and may even give bad advice or correction to a student. The singer of my band told me that her music teacher kept criticizing her bass playing, but she knew she was playing correctly. Additionally, some teachers are just really lazy and just tell the students to practice through the period. They aren’t really monitoring the student’s progress or praising their successes, so having an adult there doesn’t really make a difference.
C. Music Theory
PROS: A good school will teach students how to read a music staff because the main purpose is to play through classical pieces together. This means they will also learn time signatures and how to keep a beat, and sometimes how to create scale and chords. It can be a wonderful foundation at a softer pace which will allow them to dig deeper should the chose.
CONS: Some schools will only teach kid what buttons to press and skip reading completely. Some will only focus on reading so the students don’t actually understand the hows or whys of music (as was my case). Unless the school has a serious music program, it’s rare that they’ll go beyond the basics in this category.
D. Playing With Others
PROS: If you’re in a class, you’re almost guaranteed to have the opportunity to play with others. Usually, the teacher will act as the conductor, and everyone will work on a piece together. This helps a lot with learning your part in the song and prepares them for playing with others in bands or orchestras. This is something that is greatly missed when a person is a bedroom musician.
CONS: Unfortunately, music is rarely a popular class in schools, and the majority of those who take it aren’t actually interested, but it sounded better than art or drama. As far as I could remember, my class only got through a handful of easier songs in the books because students didn’t practice and thus we weren’t good enough to move forward.
BONUS PRO: Despite the con above, I actually think learning to play with sucky musicians is a benefit in itself. It’s very easy to get distracted and mess up yourself when those around you are messing up, but being able to focus on the conductor or the backing track, and play your best even when others are off key or off time is a tremendous skill and advantage. As I play with a violinist at my current church, if I mess up, she can keep going and vice versa thanks to this.
E. Progression & Advancement
PROS: For someone that is really starting from zero, you’ll definitely see progress in your playing or knowledge by the end of the semester. Even among the laziest, unmotivated students, since they’ll still care about their grade or be chastised by their teacher, they’ll go from not being able to produce a note on the flute or trumpet to being able to play basic songs. Just having a class where one has the opportunity to play an instrument multiple times a week is bound to incentivise one to play and improve, or at least keep up with their peers.
CONS: For a student that is more serious about playing and would even take their instrument hom eto practice, these classes can certainly hold them back. Instead of being able to move on to more intermediate stuff, a sucky class may force them to keep playing Mary Had A Little Lamb months later. It can even be frustrating being forced to play the same song for weeks while your classmates continue to mess it up. For example, here’s a class playing Hot Cross Buns at a school concert. Despite it being one of the easiest songs with only 3 different notes, they are squeaky and unbearable to listen to..and trust me, they definitely practiced this a lot longer than you may think. I believe a diligent student could get through a full method book at home on their own in the same time it would take a public school class to get to page 10 (if they ever get there anyways).
F. Creativity or Improv Skills
PROS: This is probably the one category where schools generally fail at. The most creative project I had in school was where we were placed in groups, and we were design a CD Album cover and write lyrics for songs, but we didn’t actually have to create the music. I got to be more creative in my music/computers (producing) class, but never in band class. We were treated like an orchestra and the goal was to play the songs accurately, and thus, this was a skill I lacked tremendously at until recently.
CONS: Similar to art class, a student may join it hoping to excel at their own art style, but the majority of the class focuses on real life art, creating an anatomically accurate face or hand, and learning proper shading and colour theory. These skills are, of course, valuable for the artist, but it also limits the time they could have had to work on their own craft and style. Same tends to happen in music class. The teacher pushes students to stick to the notes on the page and to play it well, and thus students don’t get to try out their creative chops.
G. Music Programs & Clubs
PROS: Chances are, if a school has music classes and instruments, they’re very likely to have other after school programs like choir, band, drum line, jazz ensembles and so on. So even if they’re classmates aren’t very enthusiastic, that doesn’t mean they can’t find like minded people in programs like these. This also means additional lessons, opportunities, and connections, all for free!
CONS: There isn’t really a con for this category. If anything, music programs is where I made some of my fondest memories and where I got a lot of my stage experience (as you’ll see in the next point). If a person did not go to a school with a music program, they would have to find people outside of school which is very difficult, especially at a young age. Even if you could find people, finding a space where they can play loudly and regularly is also difficult.
H. Performance Opportunities
PROS: A school that values the arts will likely have internal opportunities like assemblies or talent shows where students can show the school what they were working on. This can help a musician gain stage experience and confidence while they are young, and even when they’re not that great yet. If the music teachers are serious as well, they may even create or find external opportunities like concerts or events for the group to perform. Having something to work toward also ensures students are diligent in mastering their pieces.
CONS: Again, not much of a con here. It can make a student very nervous to get on stage, and they may not do as well as they expected, but if they are serious about being a musician, it is a hurdle they have to get over. The more opportunities they can get for young, the better, and if your teachers are setting them up for you, that’s sweet!
Conclusion
There is very little to lose from taking music in school. Even in a class that doesn’t progress much, it’s nice having a regular space and time to play your instrument, and to play with other musicians in a structured manner.
I definitely made the mistake of switching between various instruments instead of just honing in one, but at the same time, I appreciate having the opportunity to try many instruments instead of always wondering ‘what if?’, and I also learned the music terminology to explain myself when talking to various kinds of musicians. I understand how different instruments work, and I can tell when a person hasn’t been practicing because I know how easy or hard it is to play and learn.
Being in music clubs taught me to be diligent and persistent with my playing. I find a lot of bedroom guitarists may learn a song 70% of the way, but then they get bored and move on before mastering it. Since my clubs were preparing to perform at gigs and concert halls, that wasn’t an option. It was common to practice a song all year, and thus they became second nature to everyone. Even if you didn’t like a song well, you learned to push through and do your part well for the sake of the group.
And while school only taught me the basics of reading music, that’s all I really needed to know when I started to practice reading more seriously. It seemed intimidating at first to try other keys, but after getting through a few songs, I realized it’s not that bad. If I had no foundation at all, it would have definitely taken me at least half a year to understand time signatures, symbols, and the notes of the staff, and to remember everything, but I got to jump right in when I picked up the ocarina.
I’m ashamed that I thought I wasted my time just cause I graduated school not being confident or proficient at an instrument, but all the other skills and opportunities I gained is irreplaceable. If I only played at home, I may be great at an instrument, but I may not feel confident following a conductor, playing with others, performing on stage, or reading sheet music (people can play by ear or tabs after all).
If you’d like to learn more about this topic, check out my article where I did a survey asking other guitarists if they ever learned music in school and their difficulties learning music as an adult.
Ciao!~